Nursing unit



Dec. 20, 1966 J. J. sHoMocK ETAL NURSING UNIT Original Filed March 2;1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JOSEPH J. SHOMOCK FRANKE. BOSTON CYR/l.R PORTHOUSE ATTORNEY Dec. 20, 1966 J. J. SHOMOCK ETAL NURSINQUN'ITOrigihal Filed March 2. 1959 Sheets-Sheet 5 42 FIG. 5 l

INVENTORS JOSEPH J SHOMOCK FRANKE. BOSTON CYR/L R. PORT/{GU ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,292,809 NURSING UNIT Joseph J. Shomock and FrankE. Boston, Ravenna, and Cyril R. Porthouse, Kent, Ohio, assignors toDunhill International, Inc., Ravenna, Ohio, a corporation of DelawareContinuation of application Ser. No. 160,501, Dec. 19, 1961, which is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 796,465, Apr. 2, 1959. Thisapplication May 24, 1965, Ser. No. 458,170

. 19 Claims. (Cl. 215-11) This application is a continuation of Ser. No.160,501, filed December 19, 1961, which in turn was a continuation ofSer. No. 796,465, filed March 2, 1959, now abandoned.

This invention pertains to nursing units, and more particularly to suchunits comprising a wide mouthed bottle to which a nipple, having aradial flange, is connected by an apertured screw cap having a threadedskirt engaging with the bottle neck and the nipple. The inventionconcerns means for holding the nipple to the bottle more securely.

Considerable difliculty is experienced in providing adequate engagementof nipple and bottle while maintaining adequate pliability of the nippleand this difiiculty is enhanced when the bottle is made of some slipperyplastic material such as a polyalkene, e.g., polyethylene orpolypropylene. The invention provides retention of nipple to bottle evenwhen such materials are used.

The invention finds special importance in conjunction with ventednursing units of the type utilizing a vent hole through the nippleflange, said vent hole being normally closed by the screw cap overlyingthe top of the flange but which opens when there is a pressure reductioninside the bottle causing the nipple flange to pull away from the baseof the cap. Such a nipple can be held only at the outer periphery of thenipple flange since the remainder must be free to flex to insure propervalve action venting. With this limited area available for engagementthe problem of securing the nipple flange to the bottle is moredifiicult. The invention provides improved securement of nipple tobottle suitable for these conditions.

Prior art patents have been principally concerned with securing thenipple flange between the cap and the bottle in such a manner as toprevent the nipple from being withdrawn from the screw cap while thenursing unit is being used. While this requirement is recognized, andthe present invention attacks this problem in a novel and improvedmanner, a further problem, closely related, is recognized and solved bysaid invention. This latter, corelated, problem is that of retaining theposition of the vent holes with respect to the bottle lip. Havingrecognized the two-fold nature of the problem, the present device solvesit in a most effective manner.

The improved retention means of the invention is particularly importantin connection with nursing units whose venting action is controlled byadjustment of the tightness of the screw cap. In such case without thespecial retention means of the invention, if the cap is screwed on tightenough to retain the nipple, the venting action may be completelyeliminated, and if the cap is loosened the nipple may come loose orthere may be leakage between nipple flange and bottle mouth. Theretention means of the invention will hold securely with only moderatetightening of the cap on the bottle.

According to the invention a nursing unit is provided comprising abottle, ni ple and cap with interengaging means holding all threetogether. More specifically, there is an annular groove or rabbet aroundthe outer periphcry of the bottle lip, an upstanding ridge around theouter periphery of the nipple flange overlying the rabbet, and anannular bead-on the underside of the screw cap lying just inside theridge and overlying the middle of the bottle Patented Dec. 20, 1966 lip.When the cap is first screwed down the ridge is held between the capbead on the inside and the cap skirt on the outside. Then as the cap isscrewed down farther the ridge is flattened out and the rubber of thebottom of the nipple flange flows into the rabbet where it is heldbetween the cap skirt and the bottle lip. By this time the cap bead haspenetrated the nipple flange so that there is still a portion of theflange between the cap bead and the cap skirt. A sort of T section isthus formed on the end of the nipple flange interlocking with the capbead, cap skirt and bottle lip, which effectively prevents the nippleflange from being pulled out from between the cap and bottle lip.

An advantage of the invention lies in the fact that when the nipple isin an upright position the portion of the nipple flange that engages therabbet in the bottle lip is not pre-formed so that there is no problemin mating it with the rabbet. By the same token,- the portion of thenipple flange that engages in the rabbet of the bottle lip makes a tightengagement since it is automatically formed by pressure flow of rubberto conform to the rabbet.

An unexpected advantage of the invention lies in the improvedregulatability of the valve action to suit varying requirements ofdifferent infants. If the vent hole in the nipple flange is placed justinside adjacent to the inner lip of the bottle, the size of the venthole can be varied by providing a bead under the cap which will, as.

the cap is tightened, cause rubber to flow toward the vent hole andreduce its size. However, this method of controlling the vent hole sizeis only effective if the vent hole is accurately positioned relative tothe bottle lip, that is, if the vent hole were rather remote from thebottle lip and the adjacent cap bead, control of the vent size bytightening the cap would be much less effective. Therefore the betternipple retention means of the present invention brings about a betterregulatability of the valve action nurser.

It is also to -be observed that the upstanding ridge of the nippleflange is received in a definite place between the cap skirt and bead sothat the nipple is very accurately located relative to the cap whichgives a precise location of the nipple flange vent hole relative to thebottle lip as required for regulation of the size of the vent hole.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof,reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the upper portion of an assemblednursing unit embodying the invention;

FIGURES 2A and 2B are axial sections through the nurser of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 20 is an axial section through the nipple shown in FIGURES 2A and2B FIGURE 3 is a section similar to FIGURE 2 showing the nursing unitreassembled for storage; and

FIGURES 4 and 5 are fragmentary views similar to FIGURES 2 and 3 showinga modification.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 2A and 213 there is shown a nursing unitcomprising a bottle 10 having a wide mouth or opening 12 at its upperend. Preferably the bottle is made of a polyalkene plastic such aspolyethylene, although glass bottles or bottles of other similarmaterials may be utilized, said glass bottles not generally having theinturned overhanging lip nor generally having the slippery qualities ofplastic. There is -a buttress thread 14 around the exterior of thebottle neck 16. The upper surface 18 of the inturned lip around themouth of the 'bottle is flat except for a rabbet 20 around the outerperiphery of the lip. The rabbet is of approximate square cross-section,that is, the height and width of the rabbet are substantially equal,e.g., .030 inch.

Disposed on top of the bottle over its mouth is a soft rubber nipple(shown separately in FIGURE 2C) having a tubular body or barrel 24, theupper closed tip end of which is perforated at 25 for the discharge offluid, Around the middle of the barrel is formed an overhanging annularshoulder 26, beneath which are a plurality of radially extending spacinglugs 27. Just below each lug 27 there is a vertically extending spacinglug 28 on the side of the barrel. Projecting radially outwardly from theopen lower end of the barrel is a horizontal annular flange 30 IWhiChrests on top of the flat upper surface 18 of the bottle lip with whichit is adapted to seal. As Will "be apparent from the drawing, which is atrue scale drawing, except where the contrary is stated, the flange isabout 0.075 inch thick. Immediately adjacent the barrel of the nipplethe flange 30 has a web portion 32 of reduced thickness to providegreater flexibility. In the outer thicker portion of the flange there isa vertical vent passage 34 which is just inside and immediately adjacentthe inner edge of the bottle lip. The vent passage is enlarged in thedrawing for clarity, being much smaller in actual practice, being moreof a capillary size. Around the outer periphery of the nipple flange isan upstanding ridge 35, about 0.020 inch high by .050 inch wide, thevolume of the ridge being just a little larger than the volume of rabbet20. The flange outwardly of the vent passage may be deemed a ringportion, the flange inwardly of the vent passage deemed flexible meansfor joining the ring portion to the barrel, with the vent passagepositioned at substantially the juncture of the ring portion and thejoining means.

There is a screw cap for holding the nipple to the bottle. The cap maybe made of the same material as the bottle.

The upper centrally apertured circular flap top portion 36 e of the capis adapted to be snapped into position around the nipple between theflange 30 and shoulder 26, the lugs 27, 28, spacing the cap from theshoulder 26 and the sides of the barrel 24 so as to leave air passagestherebetween leading to the annular channel 37 between the underside ofthe top 36 and the top of the web portion 32 of the nipple flange. Inuse, when there is a reduced pressure inside the nursing unit, theflange 30 flexes inwardly away from the underside of the cap top 36allowing air to pass therebetween and thence through vent passage orport 34 into the nursing unit, thereby counteracting the vacuum.

The screw cap has an annular bead 40 on its underside concentric withthe ridge on the nipple flange and disposed just inside the ridge so asto overlie the middle of the bottle lip between the rabbeted outerperiphery of the lip and the overhanging inner portion thereof, therebybeing in line IWith the wall of the bottle neck. The bead is about 0.020inch in height.

From the outer periphery of the cap depends a skirt 42 having aninternal buttress thread 44 engaging the thread 1-4 of the bottle neck.As the cap is screwed on, the ridge 35 on the nipple flange is presseddown and the rubber 46 at the lower side of the outer periphery of thenipple flange is caused to flow down into the rabbet 20 forming a collararound the bottle lip. At the same time the head under the cap is forceddown into the body of the flange 30 maintaining its interengagement withthe ridge 35. There is thus formed a double interlock of the nippleflange with the screw cap and bottle which holds the nipple flangesecurely in place on the bottle lip and forms a seal therebetweeu.Portions of the prior art have attempted to prevent accidental removalof the nipple through the screw cap, but have failed to realize that acap protuberance alone, digging into the nipple flange, will be unableto successfully limit the relative position of the vent hole [withrespect to the proturberance or adjusting means.

The buttress threads on the cap skirt and bottle neck provide a directaxial downward pull on the cap as it is screwed on. This is aconsiderable advantage over threads having sloping engaged flanks sincesuch a slope would create a radial inward pressure on the neck of thebottle and a radial outward pressure on the cap skirt. There is thusavoided the possibility of splitting of the cap skirt which mightotherwise occur when the cap is screwed down tight for displacing rubberto form a collar any slight displacement of the bottle lip would havesaid blocking effect.

It will thus be seen that according to the invention there is providedimproved means for securing the nipple to the bottle, for forming a sealbetween bottle and nipple, and

for positioning the vent'hole while varying its size. with adjustment ofthe pressure of the screw cap. Initial downward movement of the cap isseen to cause rubber to flow into the rabbet. The collar thus formedengages the outer periphery of the bottle lip and, along with the caphead which engages the nipple flange, fixedly positions the vent hole aswell as secures the cap, nipple and bottle. With the flange thusaccurately positioned the vent hole is adjacent the inner edge of thebottle lip whereby upon further tightening of the screw cap theeifective diameter of the vent hole can be reduced. Although theinvention is particularly applicable to use With plastic bottles andcaps employing valve action vented nipples, many features of theinvention are applicable to use with glass bottles, bakelite caps, andto other types of venting. Other. materials than natural rubber, e.g.,silicone rubber,can be used for the nipples.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, the nursing unit is shown as assembled for,storage of food. The nipple is inverted,

in which condition the ridge 35 fits in ra-bbe-t 20. Between the nippleand screw cap is disposed a seal disc having a thicker central portion52 and a thinner annular peripheral portion 54. The disc is'alsoprovided with a circular upstanding flange 56 fitting inside theaperture in the top 36 of the screw cap and a finger grip diametralupstanding flange 58. The thin portion 54 of the seal disc overlies thetop of the vent holes 34. Since portion 54 1 is as thick as the heightof head 40, the pressure of the screw cap bears directly on the portion54 of the seal disc, causing it to seal over the vent holes 34 andpressing the nipple flange into sealing engagement with the bottle lip.

At the same time the thick portion 52 of the seal disc pushes down onthe barrel of the nipple, flexing the web 32 and sealing over the mouthof the barrel, thereby preventing any leakage through hole 25 in the tipof the nip: pie. Of course should a larger diameter seal disc be used,such as that shown in US. Patent No. 2,942,726, which has a diameteronly slightly less than the inner diameter of the screw cap, then head40 would press directly down on the outer portion of the seal disc,still sealing the vent, holes, sealing by engaging the nipple flangevwith the bottle lip, and flexing the nipple barrel. Since the rabbet 20is not quite wide enough to receive the ridge 35, additional pressure iscreated between the corner of the bottle lip and the nipple flange atthis point, enhancing the sealing eflect. An additional beneficialeffect of having ridge 35 at the extreme outer periphery of nippleflange 30 lies in the fact that on inverting the nipple for storage, theridge, by entering ra'bbet 20, automatically centers the. nipple on thebottle for ease of assembly.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, there is shown a modification which is thesame as FIGURE 2 except that the ridge at the top of the nipple flangeis not quite as large in the volume and a partially preformed ridge 146i is provided on the underside of the nipple flange. The combinedvolumes of ridges 135 and 146 is slightly greater than that of rabbet sothat as in the previously described embodiment the fully developed ridge146 as created when the screw cap is applied, and rubber flows intorabbet 20, will be under pressure against the bottle and cap. Therelaxed inner diameter of ridge 146 is larger than the inner diameter ofrabbet 20 so that there is no problem of fitting them together duringinitial assembly of the parts.

As shown in FIGURE 5, when the nipple of the FIG- URE 4 embodiment isinverted to put the unit in condition for sealed storage, the ridge 146fits under the cap between bead 40 and cap skirt 42. If, as shown indotted lines, the unstressed height of the ridge 146 is no higher thanthe thickness of the outer portion 54 of the seal disc, the ridge 146will be received without distortion, exceptthat because ridge 135 whichis now on the bottom, must be distorted from its unstressed shape asshown in dot-ted lines to the shape shown in solid lines in order to fitrabbet 20, there will be a certain amount of upflow of rubber, swellingridge 146 toward the top of the cap, as shown insolid lines. If ridge146 is higher than the thickness of outer portion 54 of the seal disc,then ridge 146 will be placed under pressure and the rubber will flowdown to enlarge ridge 135 therebelow, swelling it into rabbet 20,.andfurther enhancing the seal. If, as previously mentioned, a largerdiameter seal disc is utilized, bead 40 would press directly on theouter portion of the disc, immediately causing said disc to transmitthis pressing force toridge 146 and causing rubber in ridge 135 to flowinto rabbet 20. I Comparing the embodiment of FIGURES 2A, 2B, and 2Cwith that of FIGURE 4, it maybe said that the latter embodiment givesaslightly stronger interlock, whereas there is less difliculty inmanufacturing the first described embodiment. In manufacturing thesenipples an operator cuts off the flash from the molding process with adie. If the nipple does not have a flat. bottom, difiiculty will beexperienced with the nipple shimmying around and the ridge on the bottomthereof deforming as an attempt is rnade to cut off the flash, resultingin a high frequency or production of rejects. A similar problem existsin connection with piercing the nipples to provide the vent holes; ifthe nipple is not flat on the bottom it will not rest steady on a tableduring the piercing and the hole may be mislocated. It is therefore amarked advantage to be able to use a nipple having a flat bottom, thebottom interlocking ridge being developed solely by fluid flow. Howeverthe modified form shown in FIGURE 4 may be used with machine finishednipples in which case the machine bed can be shaped to fit the nipplebottom.

It will be seen in the various embodiments, especially that of FIGURE2A, that prior to screwing the cap onto bottle 10, the under surface ofcap top 36 does not conform or correlate with the upper surface ofnipple flange and ridge contained thereon, i.e., an air gap existstherebetween. 0n the cap being screwed on, and rubber caused to flowfrom the lower surface of flange 30, the lower surface of said flangetends to become correlative in contour with the bottle lip and rabbet 20contained therein.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, many modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in theart without departing from the spirit of the invention and it isintended to protect by Letters Patent all forms of the invention fallingwithin the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a nursing unit, the combination of:

an elongated bottle, said bottle having an opening at one end thereof, athreaded portion on the outside of said end, a lip surrounding saidopening, and a depression formed at the outer peripheral edge of saidlip;

a nipple having a tubular barrel, a radial flange extending outwardlyfrom said barrel, an annular upstanding ridge around the extreme outerperiphery of said flange, said ridge overlying said depression of saidbottle lip when said nipple is placed in a nursing position on saidbottle, and vent holes in said flange disposed so as to be just insideand tangent to the inner periphery of said bottle lip when said bottleand nipple are in a nursing position; and

a cap having a top portion and a depending skirt portion, an opening insaid top adapted to receive said barrel of said nipple, a threadedportion on the interior of said skirt designed to mate with said bottlethreads allowing said cap to be screwed on said bottle, and means on theunderside of said top of said cap for causing rubber from the undersideof said nipple flange to flow into said bottle lip depression when saidcap is screwed onto said bottle.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said lip depression of said bottleis a rabbet and said means causing rubber to flow is an annular bead onthe underside of said cap.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said head is concentric with saidnipple ridge and has a slightly lesser diameter than said ridge, andwherein said ridge, on said nipple being inverted for storage purposes,enters into said rabbet.

4. In a nursing unit, the combination of:

a bottle, said bottle having an opening at one end thereof, a threadedportion on the exterior portion adjacent said end for receiving matedthreads on a screw cap, a lip surrounding said opening and firstcombination means for receiving rubber flowing from the underside of anipple flange when said nipple is in a nursing position and forreceiving a portion of the upperside of said nipple flange when saidnipple is inverted for storage purposes;

a nipple having a tubular barrel and an annular flange connected to saidbarrel at one end thereof, vent holes in said flange so disposed thatwhen said nipple is placed on said bottle in a nursing position, saidvent holes are adjacent said opening of said bottle, second combinationmeans on said flange for forming an interlock with a portion of a screwcap when said nipple is in a nursing position and for forming aninterlock with said first combination means of said bottle when saidnipple is inverted to a storage position; and

a screw cap having a top portion and a depending skirt portion, saidskirt portion being internally threaded to allow mating with saidthreaded portion of said bottle, said top portion having an openingdesigned to receive and pass said barrel of said nipple, and said topportion further having depending third combination means for 1) causingrubber to flow :from the underside of said nipple flange into said firstcombination means of said bottle when said nipple is in a nursingposition thereby preventing removal of said nipple from said bottle andnurser and fixing the location of said vent holes with respect to saidopening and for (2) causing said second combination means on said nippleto interlock with said first combination means on said bottle when saidnipple is inverted to a storage position.

5. The combination of claim 4, wherein said first combination means onsaid bottle is a rabbet in the extreme outer periphery of said lip andsaid third combination means on said cap is an annular head on theunderside of said top portion.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said second combination means onsaid nipple is an upstanding annular ridge around the extreme outerperiphery of said nipple flange, said nipple flange being furtherprovided with a depending annular ridge on the underside of its extremeouter periphery.

7. The combination of claim 4, wherein said first combination means onsaid bottle is a rabbet in the extreme outer periphery of said lip, saidsecond combination means on said nipple is an upstanding annular ridgearound the extreme outer periphery of said nipple flange, and said thirdcombination means on said cap is a depending annular beadconcentric'with said upstanding annular ridge.

In a nursing unit, the combination of:

bottle, said bottle having an opening at one end thereof, a threadedportion on the outside of said end, a lip surrounding said opening, anda depression formed at the outer peripheral edge of said lip;

a nipple having a tubular barrel, a radial flange extending outwardlyfrom said barrel, an annular upstanding ridge around the outer peripheryof said flange, said ridge overlying said depression of said bottle lipwhen said nipple is placed in a nursing position on said bottle, andvent holes in said flange disposed as to be inside of and closelyadjacent to the inner periphery of said bottle lip when said bottle andnipple are in a nursing position; and

a cap having a top portion and a depending skirt por- In a nursing unit,the combination of:

bottle, said bottle having an opening at one end thereof, a threadedportion on the outside of said end, a lip surrounding said opening, anda depression formed in said lip;

a nipple having a tubular barrel, a radial flange extending outwardlyfrom said barrel, an annular upstanding ridge around said flange andconcentric with said barrel, said ridge overlying said depression ofsaid bottle lip when said nipple is placed in a nursing position on saidbottle; and

a cap having a top portion and a depending skirt portion, an opening insaid top portion adapted to receive said barrel of said nipple, athreaded portion on the interior of said skirt adapted to mate with saidbottle threads allowing said cap to be screwed on said bottle, and meanson the underside of said top of said cap causing rubber from theunderside of said nipple flange to flow into said bottle lip depressionwhen said cap is screwed onto said bottle.

10. The combination of claim 9 wherein said flow causing means includesan annular rib formed on the under surface of said top portion of saidcap, said rib being so positioned as to contact a portion of saidannular ridge of said nipple flange when said cap is screwed onto saidbottle.

11. The combination of claim 9 wherein said depression in said bottlelip is an annular depression formed at the outer periphery of said lip.

12. In a nursing unit, the combination of:

a bottle, said bottle having an opening at one end thereof, a threadedportion on the outside of said end, a lip surrounding said opening, anda depression formed at the outer peripheral edge of said lip; nipplehaving a tubular barrel, a radial flange extending outwardly from saidbarrel, an annular upstanding ridge around said flange and concentricwith said barrel, said ridge overlying said depression of said bottlelip when said nipple is placed in a nursing position on said bottle;

cap having a top portion and a depending skirt portion, an opening insaid top portion adapted to receive said barrel of said nipple, athreaded portion on the interior of said skirt adapted to mate with saidbottle threads allowing said cap to be screwed on said bottle; and

wherein in assembling said unit for nursing and prior to screwing saidcap on to said bottle, the upper surface of said radial flange isnon-correlative with the under surface of said top portion of said cap,

and on said cap being screwed onto said bottle the under surface of saidnipple flange is substantially correlative with said bottle lip and saiddepression formed therein.

13. In a nursing unit, the combination of:

bottle having an opening at one end thereof, a cap receiving portion onthe outside of said end, a lip surrounding said opening, and annularreceiving means formed in said lip concentric with ,said opening;

nipple having a substantially tubular body, a radial flange extendingoutwardly from said body, and a ridge on said flange so disposed as tooverlie said annular receiving means when said nipple is in a nursingposition on said bottle; and

means for exerting a downward force on said ridge to 14. The combinationof claim 13 wherein said means for exerting a downward force furtherinclude a depend-:

ing 'annular rib formed on the under surface of said cap top and saidnipple flange includes valve means positioned intermediate said body andsaid ridge.

115. The combination of claim 13 wherein said annular receiving means ofsaid bottle lip is a rabbet, said annular receiving portion on theoutside of said bottles one end said includes a threaded portion andsaid skirt portions interior means includes a further threaded portioncapable of mating with said bottles threaded portion.

16. The combination of claim 13 wherein said'nipple flange includes,disposed intermediate said ridge and said tubular body, an area ofsubstantially greater flexibility than the area of said nipple adj'acentthereto, and, on

said

cap being aflixed to said bottle prior to being aflixed in a tightfitting manner, an air gap is defined between the 'upper surface of saidnipple flange and the under surface of said cap top.

17. A soft rubber nipple for use in a nursing unit which nursing unit isof the type including a bottle having an opening at one end forming alip and a threaded por-,

tion on the exterior of the bottle for receiving the threaded skirt of anipple retaining screw cap whose top is centrally apertured to receivethe nipple barrel, said nipple comprising:

tubular barrel having an upper end and the upper end of the barrelclosing in at the top thereof, an overhanging annular shoulder aroundthe middle of the barrel between the upper and lower ends thereof,

plurality of radially extending azimuthally spaced lugs beneath saidshoulder for spacing the, barrel shoulder from the top of a screw capwith which the nipple may be used, plurality of vertically extendinglugs on said barrel below said shoulder azimuthally spaced apart aroundthe barrel for spacing the barrel from the periphery of a centralaperture in a screw cap with which the nipple may be used,

an annular flange around the barrel adjacent the lower end thereofextending radially outwardly therefrom,

said flange including an annular web of reduced thickness adjacent saidbarrel,

a lower end,

said flange further including an outer thicker portion around the outerperiphery of said Web, said outer portion being thicker than said web,

a vent passage extending through said outer thicker portion of theflange from the top to the bottom thereof, said vent passage dividingsaid outer thicker portion into an annular outermost rim portion adaptedto rest on the lip of a bottle with which the rim is used and an annularinterior valve portion adapted for engagement with the underside of thetop of a screw cap with which the nipple is used, such engagementblocking fluid flow through between said vent passage and the passageformed between said nipple and such cap by said vertical and radiallugs, said Web allowing said valve portion to move away from suchengagement under differential pressure when there is a partial vacuum inthe bottle,

said rim having an annular inner part of the same thickness as saidvalve portion of the flange, both being thicker than said web, saidinner part of the rim extending radially from the outer periphery of thevalve portion of the flange a major portion of the distance to theoutermost periphery of the flange,

said rim having an annular outer part extending radially from said innerpart of the rim the remaining minor portion of the distance to theoutermost periphery of the rim,

said nipple being characterized by an upstanding annular ridge at thetop of said outer part of the rim, said ridge extending continuouslyaround the outermost periphery of the rim, the thickness of said outerpart of the rim including said annular ridge exceeding the thickness ofsaid inner part of the rim, said upstanding ridge being colevel with aportion of said vertically extending lugs on said barrel, said ridgebeing adapted to engage the underside of a screw cap with which thenipple is used and to be displaced into the body of the nipple flangeunder pressure of the screw cap, thereby to extnude rubber out of thelower face of the outer part of the nipple flange to form a collar forpositioning the nipple around the lip of a bottle with which it may beused.

18. Combination according to claim 17 including an annular dependingridge on the underside of the outer part of the rim of the nippleflange.

19. A soft nipple for use with a nursing bottle and screw cap, saidnipple comprising:

a tubular barrel having an upper end and a lower end, the (upper end ofthe barrel closing in at the top thereof,

'an annular flange around the barrel adjacent the lower end thereofextending radially outward therefrom,

the outer annular portion of said flange extending from the outermostperiphery thereof in toward said barrel providing a rim, theundersurface of said rim being flat and thereby adapted to rest on aplane surface during manufacture and the lip of a nursing bottle when in(use,

the inner annular portion of said flange extending from the outerperiphery of the hand out toward the outermost periphery of the rimproviding annular support means for flexibility supporting the nipplebarrel from the rim, said inner annular portion having an annularportion of a thickness less than that of the remainder of said flange,

said rim having a broad annular inner part of the same thickness as theadjacent portion of said annular support means, said inner part of therim extending radially from said adjacent portion of said annularsupport means a major portion of the distance to the outermost peripheryof the flange,

said rim having a narrow annular outer part extending radially from saidinner part of the rim the remaining minor portion of the distance to theoutermost periphery of the rim said nipple having an upstanding annularridge at the top of said narrow outer part of the rim, said ridgeextending continuously around the outermost periphery of the rim, thethickness of said narrow outer part of the rim including said annularridge exceeding the thickness of said broad inner part of the rim andbeing thereby adapted for easy displacement into the body of the nippleflange to extrude rubber out of the lower face of said narrow outer partof the rim to form a collar on the undersurface of the nipple flange.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,541,934 2/1951Piazze 215--11 2,599,630 6/1952 Hair 21511 2,834,496 5/1958 Boston 215112,889,064 6/ 1959 Kurkjian 21511 GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Examiner.

D. F. NORTON, Assistant Examiner,

1. IN A NURSING UNIT, THE COMBINATION OF: AN ELONGATED BOTTLE, SAIDBOTTLE HAVING AN OPENING AT AN END THEREOF, A THREADED PORTION ON THEOUTSIDE OF SAID END, A LIP SURROUNDING SAID OPENING, AND A DEPRESSIONFORMED AT THE OUTER PERIPHERAL EDGE OF SAID LIP; A NIPPLE HAVING ATUBULAR BARREL, A RADIAL FLANGE EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID BARREL, ANANNULAR UPSTANDING RIDGE AROUND THE EXTREME OUTER PERIPHERY OF SAIDFLANGE, SAID RIDGE OVERLYING SAID DEPRESSION OF SAID BOTTLE LIP WHENSAID NIPPLE IS PLACED IN A NURSING POSITION ON SAID BOTTLE, SAID VENTHOLES IN SAID FLANGE DISPOSED SO AS TO BE JUST INSIDE AND TANGENT TO THEINNER PERIPHERY TO SAID BOTTLE LIP WHEN SAID BOTTLE AND NIPPLE ARE IN ANURSING POSITION; AND A CAP HAVING A TOP PORTION AND A DEPENDING SKIRTPORTION, AN OPENING IN SAID TOP ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID BARREL OF SAIDNIPPLE, A THREADED PORTION OF THE INTERIOR OF SAID SKIRT DESIGNED TOMATE WITH SAID BOTTLE THREADS ALLOWING SAID CAP TO BE SCREWED ON SAIDBOTTLE, AND MEANS ON THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID TOP OF SAID CAP FOR CAUSINGRUBBER FROM THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID NIPPLE FLANGE TO FLOW INTO SAID BOTTLELIP DEPRESSION WHEN SAID CAP IS SCREWED ONTO SAID BOTTLE.